St Matthew's Church is a 20th-century church in the

Anglican Diocese of Birmingham The Diocese of Birmingham is a diocese founded in 1905 in the Church of England's Province of Canterbury, covering the north-west of the traditional county of Warwickshire, the south-east of the traditional county of Staffordshire and the north ...

, in the

Perry Beeches Perry Beeches is an area of Great Barr, Birmingham, England, within the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr. It was formerly part of the estate of Perry Hall, and from 1894 until 1928 came under the auspices of Perry Barr Urb ...

area of

Great Barr Great Barr is a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as ...

, Birmingham, England. It was designed by Robert Maguire and Keith Murray and consecrated on 21 September 1964.

Background

St Matthew's parish was established in 1938, in a newly developed residential area that was previously farmland. The first church, known as Christ Church, was a simple, single-storey brick building, completed in 1939, which also served as a community hall. It was retained and is connected to the current church, continuing in its latter function. Land for the church was donated by Douglas James of the James Motorcycle Company.

Architecture

Building work began in November 1962 and was finished in July 1964, with a total contract price of (). A

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was laid on 13 June 1963 by the

Bishop of Birmingham The Bishop of Birmingham heads the Church of England Diocese of Birmingham, in the Province of Canterbury, in England. The diocese covers the North West of the historical county of Warwickshire and has its see in the City of Birmingham, Wes ...

Leonard Wilson John Leonard Wilson (23 November 189722 July 1970) was an Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Singapore from 1941 to 1949 during the time of Japanese occupation and subsequently Dean of Manchester and Bishop of Birmingham. Education Wilson was ...

. The church was consecrated on 21 September 1964. Its architects were Robert Maguire and Keith Murray. It follows their earlier work on

St Paul's, Bow Common St Paul's Bow Common is a 20th-century Church (building), church in Bow Common, London, England. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of London. The church is at the junction of Burdett Road and St Paul's Way in the London Borough of Tower Ham ...

. The building is constructed of brick and reinforced concrete with a copper roof. Its concrete and mortar have a pinkish hue, caused by the use of locally quarried red sand. It has a bell tower on its western side. The interior floor plan is an irregular hexagon, arranged to so that both the altar and the blue-brick font are visible to the seated congregation. The church has a floor area of and is designed to seat up to 400. It retains original light fittings by Murray, using Swedish glass, as well as the original wooden bench-pews, pulpit, lectern, priest's chair and desk. The original altar was replaced in 1978 with one made in English ash by students from the nearby Brooklyn Technical College. The church's interior wooden detailing is also in English ash. A review in the ''

Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is a professional architecture magazine, published monthly in London by Metropolis International. Each issue includes in-depth features on relevant current affairs, alongside profiles of recently completed buildings. Ten t ...

'' noted the importance of consultation with its parishioners on the church's design, and said that "the unusual relationship between font and altar is of interest". An organ was installed in 1969. It was replaced in 2011. The church was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1997, giving it legal protection from unauthorised modification or demolition.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

described it as "a fine example of the influence of the

Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...

", and called the pulpit "

de Stijl De Stijl (, ; 'The Style') was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 by a group of artists and architects based in Leiden (Theo van Doesburg, Jacobus Oud, J.J.P. Oud), Voorburg (Vilmos Huszár, Jan Wils) and Laren, North Holland, Laren (Piet Mo ...

-like".

Worship

St Matthew's describes its services as being in the " Modern Catholic" tradition. An episode of the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

programme ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Ch ...

'', recorded at the church on 15 May 1968, was broadcast on 30 June that year. It was presented by Geoffrey Wheeler. A statue in English

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

by Nicholas Mynheer, ''Holy Family'' was erected in the church grounds in 2011. In September 2014, a series of 14

stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

artworks by Mynheer were installed inside the church. Near the altar are two icons by Tatiana Nichita.

Vicarage

In 1960, a

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or Minister (Christianity), ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of n ...

was constructed on Beeches Road, around a third of a mile from the church.

References

External links

* {{Official website Church of England church buildings in Birmingham, West Midlands Great Barr 20th-century Church of England church buildings Churches completed in 1964 Anglican Diocese of Birmingham Brutalist architecture in England